Transformation of recovered cobalt from lithium-ion batteries into zeolitic imidazolate framework-67

Electrical and electronic equipment with axillaries at their end of life are considered as e-waste. Utilization/reutilization of e-waste especially recovery of rare earth metals from e-waste has engrossed great attention in last decades. In this line, here we are reporting a process for utilizing spent lithium-ion mobile batteries as a source of Co metal ions (in the form of cobalt oxalate through acid leaching) for wZIF-67 (waste mobile battery-based ZIF) synthesis at certain experimental conditions. Afterward, a comparative analysis was carried out based on structure and properties between wZIF-67 [Co metal ions from waste mobile battery and 2-methylimdazole (Hm-im) based ZIF] and pZIF-67 [cobalt(II) nitrate hexahydrate-based ZIF 2-methylimdazole (Hm-im) based ZIF]. Our results indicated that, wZIF-67 has almost analogous features and is possibly utilized for gas storage and separation, sensing, catalysis and energy applications in future.